Last Christmas
by Mistbender
Summary: Ceria stumbles into a world she hadn't known about when she left Midgar a year ago, and gets swept away in it, along with another girl, Jaydrex.
1. Messy first missions

**Last Christmas  
**(it's a working title so far - I am taking suggestions for better ones)

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the FFVII world, or the official characters, Squeenix does. Jaydrex belongs to Mik-san  
Ceria is mine though.

This story takes place approximately one year after the ending of the game, and a year before Advent Children

* * *

Clutching her coat to her against the cold, the young woman stumbled into the bar, hoping this one had the karaoke she needed. Every time she felt terrible, she sang to ease the pain, and this time, she needed others to hear it too. After her boyfriend of two years broke up with her, she needed to sing every seventeenth of the month for a year afterwards. This would be the last night she'd sing for him, the seventeenth of December – a year to the day since he tore her heart out.

Ignoring the patrons, she didn't see that she'd been watched by a few of them; she walked to the karaoke machine and picked out her song. Picking up the microphone, she started singing.

"Last Christmas, I gave you my heart. But the very next day, you gave it away. This year, to save me from tears, I'll give it to someone special." She sang, not looking at anyone in the bar.

She didn't register the tears that were running down her face, in her final farewell to her ex. In a fit of anger and hurt from what he did to her, she'd killed him with the alarm clock he'd handed her as a 'wake up' gift. She'd fled after that, going from town to town, singing her pain out, staying ahead of anyone who might have been searching for her concerning the murder. She still had no idea that Midgar had been wiped off the map. She was even taking the biggest chance in coming to this little town on the outskirts of her hometown.

Finishing her song, she sat at the end of the bar, ordering a shot of whiskey. She stiffened when someone sat next to her, expecting the worst.

"Nice singin'. Where'd ya learn?" drawled a nicotine-roughed voice.

"Nowhere." She said shortly. Connecting to any other guy at this point would not be a good thing for her.

"Heh, don't worry 'bout me turnin ya in for anythin', unless you been messin' with ShinRa."

"No . . . he wasn't ShinRa." She mumbled.

"He?"

"None of your business on who he was." She heard her neighbor snort in amusement.

"Was? Suppose you're gonna tell me you're dangerous too."

"Could you kill someone with an alarm clock?" she asked quietly.

". . . An alarm clock?" he asked incredulously.

The light-auburn haired woman just nodded before knocking back her third shot of whiskey that night. She needed to loosen up some more, before she could finally tell someone her story. She'd sworn that she would, the night she sang her last, but it would not be to this man with the nicotine voice that she hadn't even looked at. She needed someone quieter, more willing to listen than talk, because he was talking, about all the odd and sundry things he'd used as weapons.

"Then, there was this guy I broke with his own guitar . . ." Reno rambled on, not hearing the telltale click of the lighter opening.

He cut off as he smelt the distinctive scent of hair burning, then found himself on the ground, goggles askew.

"The fuck, dude?" he asked his partner, who had been the one to knock him to the ground.

"She wanted you to shut up." He said simply, taking the redhead's seat.

Frowning, Reno got up and sat in the seat next to Rude, glancing in the mirrored section of the bar to see how badly his hair had been damaged. He glared at the woman, but kept his mouth shut.

Ceria glanced at her new neighbor through the corner of her eyes. He didn't say anything, just sat there drinking his beer. She could easily guess that he and the other knew each other, with the way they'd been talking to each other. It was confusing that they would hang out together, since she automatically hated the smaller guy, but this big, silent one who wore sunglasses in a dim bar intrigued her. Sighing, she figured he would be as good a listener as anyone else.

"His name was Devar, the one I killed with an alarm clock." She started, glancing over to see that he'd turned slightly towards her, listening quietly.

"We'd been dating for two years, and on the day I told him that I loved him, one year ago to this day, he told me he'd been cheating on me with my best friend, and her sister. He handed me the alarm clock I killed him with, saying it was a 'wake up' gift." She shook her head "something snapped inside of me. I took his gift and beat him with it before using it to shove his septum into his brain. Now, I wonder if I loved him at all if I could kill him so easily. I'm really taking a chance here too, coming so close to the place I killed him." She saw the man tilt his head, and she smiled at his nonverbal way of asking questions.

"Midgar . . . we lived there together, and I'm sure someone's got the police looking for me there."

"Midgar?" Reno snorted loudly. "That place is toast! Stupid Diamond Weapon and Meteor wrecked the shit outta it." Rude shot a look at him, emphasizing that he should have stayed shut up.

"Serious? I'm in the clear?" Ceria looked hopeful as she asked the skinny man, the first time she'd actually looked at him.

"Fuck, sure. Noone cares 'bout who died there no more." A grin spread across her face, lighting up her hazel-green eyes.

She spun and ran back to the karaoke section again; leaving the two men wondering what had just happened. Picking a new song, she started singing, looking at the floor at first.

"When you feel all alone, and the world has turned its back on you, give me a moment please, to tame your wild wild heart." She could feel herself blushing a little.

The Turks glanced at each other, wondering what she was doing before turning back to watch her as the chorus started.

"Lemme be the one you call, if you jump, I'll break your fall, lift you up and fly away with you into the night. If you need to fall apart, I can mend a broken heart; if you need to crash, then crash and burn you're not alone." She sang with her face to the ceiling, dancing a little.

They watched her sing, swaying a little during the choruses, which were appropriately upbeat. As the first two lines were repeated again, she looked shyly at the one who'd actually listened to her. It was discreet enough that the other guy hadn't noticed, but she knew he'd seen it. He seemed the observant type, afterall.

Returning to her seat with a huge grin on her face, she ordered something far lighter than the whiskey she'd been drinking. She hadn't been this relaxed since well before she'd even met Devar, and it was nice to not have to worry about that anymore. She could almost kiss the redhead for giving her such good news, but he seemed the type to take advantage of the situation and try to get into her pants.

"Hey, if you can kill with an alarm clock . . ." he started, grinning.

"What?" she raised her eyebrow at him suspiciously.

"Well, if you got that kinda skill that you can kill someone with things that ain't weapons, you'd prolly make a pretty decent Turk."

"A what?" she asked, just as the bald one turned to look at him as well.

"Well, I can't tell ya for sure what Turks do, unless you join and all, but the pay's good, benefits are awesome, and you don't get in trouble for gettin' pissed and killin someone." She sighed.

"And what makes you think I want to spend my life killing people?"

"Hey, it ain't all we do. That's just the perks. I don't always like killin' people neither."

"What about traveling or having a place to call your own?"

"You get a pad to stay in, and you get to go all kindsa places." He grinned.

"Hmm, I'll have to think about it." She said, walking out of the bar.

As she walked, she looked to the east, where she would most likely be able to at the very least see ShinRa Tower. It was covered in plant life, what was left of it. Frowning, she walked the few miles from Edge to Midgar, looking for the place she dumped the body of her ex. She smirked when she found it under a heap of rubble from a dropped plate. She'd have to ask about Sector 7 next time she met up with those guys.

She thought of their offer to join the Turks on her way back, looking for a place to crash for the night. It would give her some stability, after that year of wandering, and while the gil from monster slaying was decent, she needed better pay than what that offered. Since being on the run, she'd learned a lot about makeshift weapons, including things that most would say couldn't ever be weapons, such as body sponges. Supposing they could use that kind of expertise, based on what the redhead with the nicotine voice had said, joining them sounded decent enough. Tomorrow she'd find them and join up, for now; she crawled into an abandoned apartment and went to sleep on the floor.

Ceria used the miraculously still working shower in the apartment to make sure she wasn't a disaster when she went to meet their boss that day and try to join this group of Turks, whatever they really were. Prowling Edge, she kept her eyes open for the telltale black suits. A couple of times she thought she'd seen one of the guys she'd talked to, but it was a blonde woman and a Wutaian, not the redhead and his bald friend. Sighing, she headed back to that bar she'd met them at, hoping to see them there.

Reno walked into Seventh Heaven after his hit mission was finished before heading back to meet up with Rude. A drink after a hit was tradition for him; it helped him cope with the fact that he was killing people off for what could be the pettiest reasons, even just looking at Rufus' geostigma wrong.

"Hit mission special?" the brunette asked him as he sat at the bar.

"You know it Tif." He smirked as she was already pulling the ale.

His hit mission special was a shot of whiskey, lit aflame and dropped into a glass of ale (flaming jackknife). It was an acquired taste, but it wrapped a golden haze around the edges of his consciousness and made him forget the face of the person he'd killed. It was his way of coping with their life, keeping himself from losing his mind.

"Loudass Turk!" he heard someone exclaim from behind him.

Tifa snorted, trying not to laugh too loudly as he turned to see who had said that. Ceria was standing there, looking none to pleased with being there.

"I kept looking for you and your buddy every fucking where, but all I saw was some blonde chick and a Wutaian. Where the hell were you?"

"'Scuse me, what? You think you're our girlfriend or somethin like that, raggin' on me like this?" he glared at her.

"You were the one so eager for me to join the Turks, but when I come to tell you my answer, you can't be fucking found. I should change my mind about it."

"Wait, blonde with a Wutaian? Shit, those're Turks too. The blonde's Elena, and the Wutaian's Tseng. He's my boss. You coulda asked them 'bout me an Rude."

"Yeah, I really knew your names, that's why I called you by it a moment ago." She retorted sarcastically.

"I'm Reno, bald guy's Rude. There, you know our names." She sighed and headed to the door.

"Wait, where the fuck're you goin?"

"To talk to Tseng, since he is your boss."

"You ain't gonna find him on your own." He looked at the strap on his wrist, which was some manner of thick watch, with a strap leading to some sort of baton "'Specially now, he's with bossman."

"Wait, I though Tseng was your boss." She crossed her arms.

"He's boss of the Turks. Bossman signs our checks though."

"And who the hell is this bossman?" she asked, exasperated.

Reno looked over at Tifa, who was wiping the counter, but he knew she was listening. He grabbed the girl by the upper arm after downing the last of his drink, and pulled her outside.

"The fucking hell? Get your hands off of me!"

"Bossman's identity supposeta be secret for now. We don't want noone knowin' he's still 'round." He hissed at her, pulling her down an alleyway.

He knew Rude would wonder why he was late, but it was important that he didn't get the information that Rufus had survived out in the open.

"So? You gonna tell me or not?" she fumed after he let go of her.

"I tell you, you're sworn to be a Turk, no ifs ands or buts, lady."

"It's Ceria, not lady, and I said I was joining, didn't I?"

"No, you just implied it. But that's ok; I'm holdin you to it now. Turk or nothin – you let this out, you quit the Turks, and that involves body bags."

"That hard to retire?"

"You think you'll make it to that age?"

"Yup." She smirked "I survived a year in the wilderness, weaponless. I think I can manage being a Turk." The redhead glared at her.

"You're gonna be workin' with Rufus Shinra, kay? He signs our checks, tells us who to kill, shit like that. Everyone here thinks he's dead, so don't tell noone that he's not croaked, get me?"

"Sure, he was the vice president when I left, did his old man croak yet?"

"Yeah, Sephiroth killed 'im."

"Good. Fat greedy fuck. Couldn't stand him." Reno laughed at this.

"Bossman's gonna like you. He hated his pops too."

"Can't blame him. Oh, I wanted to ask, what happened with Sector 7 that it got so much more wrecked than the others?" She didn't expect to see the brief, haunted look in the redhead's green-blue eyes, but it was there.

"I dropped the plate on it a while back, before Meteor and that shit happened. But I gotta meet up with Rude somewhere, you wanna come with?" he headed off before she could answer, blinking a couple of times to alleviate the stinging that always came when someone brought up Sector 7.

". . . Sure . . ." she replied, trailing after the rapidly disappearing red ponytail.

Ceria found it hard to keep up with the skinny man, he was fast. But she was just able to keep an eye on him through all the twists and turns. Finally coming to a stop outside a building that, even new, looked old and worn out, she recognized the silhouette of the taller and broader man that was Rude.

"What's she doing here?" he asked, his deep voice making her shiver.

"Joining. So what're we doin here?" Reno asked his partner.

"Flushing out a rat. The only one here, doesn't matter how they vanish."

"Gotcha. You want a weapon, Ceria?" she smirked and looked around, picking up a length of concrete reinforcement.

"Nah, I make do with what I got." She tapped the steel bar on her shoulder much like Reno did with his EMR.

"Wanna see if she can handle flyin solo, partner?" Reno smirked.

Rude just grunted, moving just slightly aside for Ceria to enter the building. She rolled her eyes at the redhead and opened the door silently.

"Don't worry, we got your back kid." The redhead told her quietly.

She tried not to laugh as she moved further into the building, tensing to sense where the person who needed eliminating was hiding. If you weren't aware of everything living in the wilderness, you ended up dead. She wasn't going to have survived all that to mess up here. Hearing a faint sound of rubber soled shoes on the concrete, she slid among the shadows to the source of the noise.

Geoff could swear there was someone in the warehouse with him, but he couldn't hear anyone. Just had that suspicion, and it felt as though they were sneaking around near him. He was just about to turn on the flashlight he was carrying when he was struck from behind. The force of the blow alone made him woozy, and he had a scant few seconds of consciousness to hear someone tell him that it would be his last time messing with ShinRa, before it all slipped away forever. Picking up the flashlight he'd dropped, Ceria checked to see how much of his brain had splattered before giving a shrill whistle towards the Turks waiting outside.

She'd cleaned up the worst of the splatter before they had arrived at her location.

"What was that about needing a weapon, Red?" she smirked at the smaller Turk.

"Damn girl!" he replied, earning him a glare from the auburn-haired woman.

"How 'bout we just get this prick scraped up and tossed somewhere?" she grumbled at him.

Just as they had disposed of the body, Reno's PHS rang.

""Sup dothead? The arena? You sure? A GIRL? You lost your mind man. Alright alright, we're going." He said into the phone before hanging up.

"We gotta go over to the old Reaper arena, some girl's beatin' the shit outta everyone. If that's the thing, we need to recruit her too."

As they walked into the arena, they couldn't help but notice the bruised and broken bodies groaning on the ground, some of them draped through windows in the arena walls, others in uncomfortable positions. Turning to look at the source of the groans, they saw a thin girl crouch down and kick the Reaper into the air. She had no weapons on her, and her silver braid whipped around as she broke his arm before leaving him in a heap with the others. Dusting off her hands, she turned to look at them.

"And you are?" she asked quietly.

"Turks. We could use someone like you. Shit, you beat up all these people?" Ceria smirked.

"Yes, and what of it?" the girl asked.

"That's some skill. Really, you should join us. Good pay, good benefits, you won't be living in the slums . . ."

"I'm perfectly fine here."

"We ain't got time for this! Just, y'know, come talk with our bossman, kay? You can decide from there." Reno sighed.

"Will you leave me alone if I do?"

"Yeah, sure thing."

"Fine." She shrugged, then walked over to where they were standing.

Seeing the girl closer, Ceria could almost say that she was more woman than girl, being the same height as her five foot eight, but her slender frame made her look far more petite. Her eyes were an amber color, and she was pale skinned. Her wide eyes made her look even younger and more innocent. Sticking out her hand in a friendly handshake, she introduced herself.

"Ceria, I kill people with alarm clocks. You?"

"Jay."

"Funny name, that short for something?"

"Jaydrex, if you must know."

"Just asking." The auburn haired woman shrugged.

They walked back to Healin Lodge in silence, which was pretty rare considering Ceria and Reno were with them. Both of them had similar personalities, and liked to talk. Reno kept glancing at the silver-haired girl with an odd expression, and Ceria kept chuckling at him under her breath.

"Yo, dothead, got the Reapergirl, and another that you'd wanna meet. She kills people with alarm clocks."

"Swear that's gonna be on my gravestone – kills people with alarm clocks." She chuckled in an aside to Jay, in an attempt to get her to laugh.

The girl laughed once, then they were taken into a larger room, where a man in a wheelchair waited, a white shroud covering him. Ceria looked at the figure skeptically.

"So you are the new Reaper and the alarm clock killer?" he asked the two women before him.

"She's the Reaper. I don't wanna fight her, after what I saw." Ceria said, pointing her thumb at the thinner woman.

"Yeah, and I'd like to get back to it, so can we hurry this up?" the silver haired girl crossed her arms, looking disgruntled.

The Turks stared at her in shock. Talking that way to Rufus was not a good idea.

"Fine, go to the testing area then. You'll be dodging attacks from the current Turks." He said, turning away from the women.

Ceria looked somewhat concerned, that didn't sound like he was too happy. Nonetheless, they were led to what looked like a complicated obstacle course, where they met Tseng and Elena. Introductions were short, and they were shown into the course. Ceria looked at the other woman, and she nodded at her, implying they had a working truce for this test.

Working their way through the course, they were shot at with rubber bullets, briefly encased in pyramids, and occasionally attacked hand to hand by the men. Smirking, Ceria picked up a rubber bullet from the floor and flung it back at the shooter, nailing Tseng in the forehead, right where his dot was. Reno and Elena would have fallen to the floor laughing if they hadn't leaned against each other.

"I've told you that would happen one day." Rufus smirked.

The girls continued weaving their way through the course, rebounding off of each other, and working as a team on the whole. A couple of times Jay helped Ceria with dodging, and she returned the favor with ingenuity. They were almost the same person in two parts, they worked so fluidly together.

After finishing that course, they were tested on their weapon skills. Ceria grinned and said no to every weapon they handed her. Swords, daggers, guns, and even the EMR were turned down.

"Just what kind of weapon do you prefer then?" Tseng asked in exasperation.

"Anything unusual. I did kill that guy with an alarm clock, remember."

Eyes narrowed, he handed her a pen. She pulled off the cap and handed the pen back to him.

"This is fine." She smirked.

"How do you plan to kill someone with simply a pen cap?"

"It's just long enough to sever the carotid artery, if you know how to do it right."

Tilting his head, Tseng thought this over for just a moment, and conceded the point. If done just right, one could sever the carotid artery; although he wondered why she wouldn't use the average weaponry types. This question was to be answered later, on a mission that nearly killed the girl.

After the testing, terms of employment were gone over, and nondisclosure agreements signed, the girls endured a vigorous training, with Ceria often refusing weapons training under the pretense that if she could kill with so little as a pen cap, she hardly needed any further training. This came to bite her in the butt on what would be her first mission alongside Jaydrex, as partners. They were dropped onto a building in the middle of nowhere, Jaydrex with her pistol and a few knives, Ceria unarmed under her own preference. As they entered the building through a hole in the roof, the auburn haired woman started to feel uncomfortable. There was literally nothing in the building. No lights, nothing to be picked up, absolutely nothing that wasn't firmly attached to something else.

"Sh . . . it." she drew out under her breath.

"Problem?" Jay asked her.

"Yeah, nothing I can use here. Coulda told me there was nothing, so I coulda brought some pens or something."

The silver haired girl silently handed her a knife, which Ceria looked at with trepidation. She didn't have time to worry about it as they were set upon by a group of five men. As the dust finally cleared, Jay saw her partner standing in one stocking foot, brandishing one of her boots as though it were a cudgel, the knife she'd given her sticking out of her shoulder.

"How the hell did you manage that?" she asked, pointing to the knife.

"Um . . ." the other woman blushed "I'm not good with real weapons . . . I cut off one of my toes when someone tried to teach me to use a sword . . . shot another one off, as well as a fingertip when I was being taught to shoot. It's not good to give me real weapons." Jay sighed.

"So you used your boot?"

"It's not a real weapon, is it?" she grinned.

Sighing again, the quiet woman pulled the blade out of her partner's shoulder and clamped the other hand over the wound.

"Put your boot on, then you can hold your shoulder closed."

Grinning sheepishly, Ceria put her boot back on, then took over holding the gash closed. When they were picked up, Jay stated firmly that her partner was going to be carrying something into any dangerous situation at all times, whether she agreed to it or not.

"Why? What happened?" Reno asked, glancing towards them briefly.

Jay just looked away, annoyed.

"I wound up with a knife in my shoulder."

"Hope you killed the person who did it . . ." Reno said, turning back to the controls of the helicopter.

"Uh, you're talking to her." Ceria blushed.

"Why the fuck would you stick a goddamn knife in your own fucking shoulder?!" he yelled, turning fast enough that he jostled the control stick and the helicopter swerved.

Both Jaydrex and Rude turned to glare at the redhead as he pulled the chopper back on course.

"It's not like I did it on purpose!" she yelled back.

"How did it happen?" the darker-skinned Turk asked her.

"I . . . I'm just . . . bad with knifes." she stuttered, looking away.

As she'd used the longer side of her hair to shield her face from everyone else, her flush wasn't apparent. Either side would have probably been fine, since the right side was still chin length, but she preferred hiding behind the left side, as it went to nearly her elbows. She was rather proud of her asymetrical haircut, but right now the only thing she could think of was how angry at herself she was for getting so flustered at a simple question. It probably wouldn't have mattered if it were anyone else, but did it have to be him? And why did the fact that it was him bother her so much anyways?

Once they'd arrived back at Healin, Ceria scooted off for treatment, leaving Jaydrex with the two men.

"So, Jay, how bout you tell us more about yourself?" Reno smirked, sauntering over to her.

She looked at him warily, taking a couple of steps back from him each time, keeping a good distance between her and the redhead.

"No thanks." she murmured before her back hit the door.

"Aw, c'mon, Reaperchick, it's not like I could really do much to ya. Can't be that bad to tell your coworkers something besides you can kick major ass." Jay simply kept her mouth shut, amber eyes wide.

"Besides, you're kinda pretty, ya know?" he added on, leaning on the door she was backed against with one forearm.

Letting out one soft squeak, she ducked out from under him and ran behind his partner. At this point, Ceria came out, bandaged, just in time to see the surprise and small flash of hurt cross Reno's face. Looking around the room, she saw the slight glimpse of silver hair behind Rude, and looked away quickly when she saw his sunglasses turn towards her.

"Holy hell guys, I leave for maybe a few minutes to get stitched up and you can't even manage to get along like civilized people? What did you do to my partner, loudass?"

Staring her in the eyes for a moment, Reno quickly looked away.

"Nothing! I just wanted to get to know her."

Ceria raised an eyebrow, then shook her head in disappointment. Even she didn't know anything about Jay's past, and she worked with her. Her partner obviously did not feel comfortable talking about it to her, so why would she discuss it with Reno anyways? She was always avoiding him. Ceria suspected that the redhead disgusted her, or just plain talked too much for her. He grated on Ceria's nerves too sometimes, but at least she could talk to him. His partner on the other hand . . . something had changed when she was hired. It was then that she'd gotten her first really good look at him, since the bar had been dim, and the moment she had, something twisted inside of her. She'd stared just a little too long, and since then, she couldn't even look at him without flushing bright red, so she avoided it, hoping he wouldn't figure out why she'd stared so long.

She doubted that her partner was having the same problems, but anything was possible, right? They were just so opposite that it was hard to imagine that Jay would be flustered around the redhead because she liked him. Not to mention the other woman was very blunt and straightforward, never mincing the few words she did use. Ceria could almost say she was the same, but as talkative as she'd become, she was very different from the silver haired woman.

"We're officially done for the day, Jay. Let's go get a drink or something." She offered, very carefully not looking at her partner's shield of choice as she walked past him to leave.

Grateful for his sunglasses yet again, Rude watched the auburn haired woman walk past him, only moving his eyes. After she'd opened up to him in that bar, it baffled him that she would close herself off so entirely from him. She was beautiful and deadly, all at once, and that was exactly his type. He'd wanted to talk to her so much, but being almost painfully shy didn't help him much there. Once she'd loosened up and started talking more, he'd thought for sure they could have some long conversations about anything and everything, but she couldn't even look at him since that time she'd stared at him. Someday, he'd find a way to talk to her.

"Man, that Jay's a piece of work. Total mystery to everyone, but so fuckin' beautiful too. Wish she'd just fuckin' talk to me, ya know?" Reno asked the taller man as he walked up beside him.

"Yeah, I do know." Was the muttered reply as Rude followed the girls out the door.


	2. Deeper into the heart of things

* * *

**All canon Turks belong to Squeenix. Jaydrex belongs to Mik-san**

This gets pretty fluffy at the end . . . I am not responsible for any cavities caused by my fluff

* * *

A few weeks of missions, paperwork, and very little information from Jaydrex to anyone about her past went by, and Ceria was getting really into the swing of the job. She was starting to enjoy herself, although still very much avoiding Rude, when the day came that they didn't have a mission. Sitting on a couch in the lounge, she glared at the door, wanting someone to come in with _something _to do that wasn't paperwork. She only had one report left to do, and then she'd be even more bored, so she was putting it off.

Jaydrex was walking through the halls, attempting to entertain herself since she'd finished her paperwork and the one report that Ceria kept putting off when Reno sidled up next to her

"'Sup, Reaperchick?" he grinned.

"Hello, Reno." she said flatly before quickening her pace a bit.

"Hey, where ya goin so fast? I just wanna talk with ya." he said, catching up with her easily

"I'm busy, back off."

"Whoa whoa whoa . . ." he caught her by the shoulder and turned her around to face him "what's so bad about talkin' to a friend?"

Flushing, she squeaked and looked around for an escape. Seeing Rufus wheeling down the hall for who knew what, she broke free and ran behind him.

"What the . . ." Reno asked noone in particular.

"What exactly is going on here?" Rufus asked, turning to look over his shoulder.

"I was just tryin' to talk to her." Reno looked confused.

"And just what were you trying to talk to her about?"

"Just wanna get to know her. We work together and all that shit, so . . ." the redhead shrugged.

"And she works alongside Ceria, not you. Does Ceria know that much more than you do?"

"Not . . . really . . ." Jay muttered from behind the wheelchair.

"I don't know much 'bout Ceria neither." the lanky turk muttered before nearly being knocked into the wall by the auburn haired woman.

"Speaking of which . . . and what may I ask are you running from?"

"Um, nothing. Nobody." she stuttered out a little too quickly as she used Reno for a shield.

"Bull." Jay accused from her hiding place.

"Shush, you!" the other female pointed from behind the redhead.

"I can only ascertain that both of our new Turks know the whys of their choice in hiding behind us." the blonde stated, clearly not amused by their antics.

"Maybe . . ." Ceria drew out.

"I'm not talking." Jay mumbled.

"So what you're telling me is that you've dragged both me and Reno into your situation, and won't explain why."

"Sorry . . ." Jay whispered.

"As there were no missions today, I can only assume that it's an inter-office dilemma. Perhaps something to do with your coworkers?" he glanced pointedly at Reno.

"Oh he bothers everyone, that's not important." Ceria smirked, not seeing her shield glance over his shoulder.

"Heya partner!" Reno drawled, waving at the bald Turk.

Squeaking and looking a bit panicked, Ceria abandoned her hiding place behind the redhead and joined her partner behind Rufus.

"My hiding spot, find your own!" Jay hissed at her.

"You can share! I'm keeping your secrets too!" the auburn haired woman hissed back.

"I'm beginning to feel like a piece of furniture." Rufus commented dryly.

"Sorry, bossman, it's just r-really hard t-to explain." Ceria said, stuttering a little as Reno's partner turned to look at her.

The redhead was just about talking his partner's ear off about anything and everything, and it was starting to irritate everyone.

"I suggest you find another hiding place." he replied, clearly not suggesting it.

Ceria squeaked and fled down the hallway, turning a corner rapidly and nearly falling down in the process. Jay sighed and stood up, irritation clear on her face.

"Reno talks too much." she said simply.

"True, but there's very little anyone can do about it." the blonde stated, ready to turn back to his office.

"Watch me." she stated, striding towards the lanky man.

Reno finally noticed her at the last minute, before she grabbed his collar, yanked him down and kissed him. Shoving him away, she turned back to the wheelchaired man.

"That, is how you shut him up. Now if you don't mind, I have a partner to find."

The redhead was staring after her like a gaping fish, causing both Rufus and Rude to chuckle at him silently. Jaydrex stormed down the hallway, looking for her partner, her face bright red. She found the other woman down the hallway she'd turned down, berating herself for being stupid. The silver haired woman shook her head and stood over her partner, who was sitting against the wall.

"You're never going to get anywhere that way."

"Whaddya mean?" Ceria replied, looking up.

Her partner just shook her head and pulled her to her feet. She started shoving her down the hallway, back to their offices. While Rufus still spent most of his time in Healin, they did have offices in a nearby building, where everyone did their actual work. It was these offices they were currently in, and Jay was muttering under her breath, not even answering the woman she was pushing.

Another week of missions and paperwork passed, and the next Monday, Tseng was waiting for them all at the door.

"Dude, what the fuck? You stalkin us now?" Reno asked with a wide grin.

"No, just switching you up for a couple of missions today."

"Great! I call Jay!"

"No, you're working with Ceria."

"Dammit!"

The girls just rolled their eyes at each other, a silent agreement that he was being an idiot, yet again. Jay and Rude were sent on a mission that required a lot of stealth and quick incapacitation, which their partners grudgingly accepted that they'd be bad at. However, they did get an assignment that suited them as well. As they walked to the designated place, Reno decided to grill his temporary partner.

"So, you know a bit of something about your partner, right?"

"Pfft. Yeah, right." she rolled her eyes, walking with her arms wrapped around herself.

"What, she don't talk with you either? She works with you!"

"Oh, she talks with me, but if you think I'm spilling her secrets, you're insane."

"Aww, c'mon Cerie! I'll tell ya anything you wanna know." he offered hopefully.

"Considering she could kill me at the drop of a hat, I don't think the price is worth the information." she said, flushing pink.

"You wanna know somethin. I know you wanna know somethin!" he smirked.

"That may or may not be true, but regardless, I will not spill Jay's secrets for it."

"Aright, aright . . . how about yourself?" he grinned, crossing his arms.

Heaving a huge sigh, she rolled her hazel eyes in aggravation. He'd obviously not give up until she told him something.

"Fine. What is it that has you so curious about me?"

"How come you keep runnin' from my partner?"

"Sorry, that bit's classified. On a need to know basis, and you don't need to know." she said, mouth pursed and a warning look in her eyes.

"Damn, getting good info outta you two is like pullin' teeth. From Neo Bahamut."

"Sorry, those juicy bits have to wait. What else do you want to know?" she smirked, plucking a stray hair from her jacket.

"How 'bout your family, they any good to ya?" From the groan she made, he would suppose not.

"They wanted me to be this perfect porcelain doll . . . my hair, gods, they wouldn't let me cut it. It went down to my ankles, and I was always put in this overly fussy, gothic lolita style of dress, never pants, couldn't play outside, couldn't even talk unless I was asked a question, and they always told me what to say. They didn't want a child, they wanted a living doll." she leaned against a wall and sulked at the memory.

"They ever try to kill ya?"

"Yeah, a few times. Usually poison, why?"

"Just askin. So was Devar a rebellion for you?"

"Fuck no, he was just some dipshit that was halfway decent in bed."

"Only halfway?" he grinned.

"I don't care how good you think you are, you ain't getting . . . no."

"Wasn't askin' for me. I got my eye on someone else."

"Why do I get the feeling I don't want to ask who." she muttered to herself.

"That's on a need to know basis." he smirked, throwing her own words back at her.

She stared at him, her best 'don't fuck with me' look on. She blinked a few times, then looked away.

"You're full of shit." she stated, pushing away from the wall to keep an eye on their target.

They followed the guy for a while, not really speaking to each other; Reno thinking he'd stumbled across one of her secrets, Ceria stubbornly refusing to believe what he'd implied. Although, thinking about it, he could have meant either the person he was asking for was a need-to-know, or the person he was interested in. She'd automatically thought he'd meant the person he was asking for, totally ignoring the other bit, since it didn't concern her. It was one of her flaws, she supposed.

"So who's the need to know? The person you're asking for, or the one you're after?"

"Oh I'll tell ya who I'm after, that's no big deal. Hell, I thought it was obvious."

" . . . Jay." she said flatly, earning a sheepish shrug from the redhead."Great, so I have a secret admirer, and I'm guessing you won't tell me who it is until . . . I tell you why I run."

"Exactly." he grinned.

"I'll wait to find out."

"Aww, you're no fun. I can keep a secret ya know." Ceria looked at him with trepidation before laughing.

"Yeah, sure." came her sarcasm laden reply.

"Yaknow, that hurts. Just for that, I'll tell the person who likes ya not to do nothin."

"Oh for fuck's sake Red. Yes, I like someone. No, I'm not telling you who it is, nor am I telling you how I react to people I like. For all you know I could be a clingy little bitch when I like someone. Is that enough to patch up your bruised ego?" She growled out, arms akimbo.

"It'll have to do." he muttered through a pout, then slowly grinned. "I bet I know who it is." he added in a sing-song voice.

"Fine, genius, who is it, since you know me oh so well." She turned to huff at him, arms crossed.

Reno grinned widely. "I bet it's my buddy, and you're just too shy to be 'round him."

"Of all the asinine . . . you're delusional Red." she scoffed, shaking her head and walking away.

The lanky Turk chuckled; he'd seen the little blush that she tried to hide. He'd be telling Rude all about the talk he had with her as soon as they got back, if they ever did. This guy was giving them the runaround, and it was starting to get irritating.

"Let's just jump his stupid ass and get this over with!" she huffed in frustration.

"Gotta wait an see what he does with that folder shit, you know that."

"Ugh!" she groaned, falling backwards onto the roof they were sitting on.

"Tired of bein' a Turk already? Thought you could go until retirement." he smirked, leaning back on his hands to look at her.

"Noone said nothin' bout stalkin people." she grumbled.

"Sure we did. Not our fault you fell asleep durin' that."

She just closed her eyes and flipped him off. "Let me know when he does something."

"Get up, lazy ass."

"He movin?"

"Not yet."

"Then I ain't either. Why I gotta put up with you when all you wanna do is harass me about who I like . . ." she grumbled some more.

"Cerie . . . give it up. I already figured it out."

"Figured what out?" she rolled her eyes.

"That you keep runnin from Rude cuz ya don't want him to know you like him."

"Reno, you keep that kind of half-assed ideas up, you're gonna find out you're a lot dumber than you think you are." she sighed, turning away from him.

"I bet you're blushin' again. That's why ya turned away." he smirked.

In a flash, she was up and on her feet, tackling him, with a pen pressed into his neck. Aqua eyes shot wide, and a fine tremor of concern ran through his body.

"I fucking told you to shut your goddamn mouth, and you didn't fucking listen. You do that shit again, you won't get a warning. You are fucking wrong, just accept it. You keep pushing me like this, you'll find out just how pissy I can get." She glared at him, her eyes a deep emerald green with gold flecks.

"Ok, you're right, you don't have the hots for Rude, and never did." he said shakily.

Narrowing her eyes one last time at him, she climbed off of his chest, where she'd been sitting. Capping the pen slowly, she returned to her seat on the roof, watching him guardedly as he slowly sat back up. Once she was sure he wouldn't say anything more, she looked down at the apartment they were watching.

"He's on the move, let's go, ass." She said tightly, heading to the adjoining roof.

Swallowing back a smart remark, he followed her, just out of arm's reach. He was going to keep her distance from her for a good long time after that. She might be damned good at what she did, but she was scary as hell when she got pissed. In fact, the whole rest of the mission was passed in silence. Ceria was still fuming angrily when they returned, to find their partners already back and well relaxed.

"Did you get the-" Tseng started as Ceria stormed past him.

"Ask him." she growled, grabbing a bottle of Jack Daniels from the liquor cabinet and storming into her office, slamming the door behind her.

"God damn, Reno, what did you do?" Elena asked, breaking the silence that followed the outburst.

Jay silently followed her partner into the office, to find her already half drunk, and breaking things.

"What did he do?" she asked calmly, almost as if soothing a child.

"He fucking found out! God damn asshole had to rub my fucking face in it too! As if I fucking was some damn dog that messed on the fucking carpet!"

"Found out about what?"

The empty bottle of whiskey hit the wall, shattering before the other woman replied. "That I fuckin' . . ." she stumbled against the desk " . . . fuckin desk. You fuckin know . . ." she trailed off, leaning on the desk.

"Ceria . . ."

"He found out I fucking love Rude, dammit!" she screamed, pounding her fist into the desk. "And he was a total fucking ass about it!" she added, falling onto the desk again.

"Excuse me for a moment . . ." Jay said, walking to the door.

Everyone was staring at the door when Jay came out of it, shutting it softly behind her. Noone said a word as she walked over to Reno, and proceeded to bitchslap him into the nearest filing cabinet. As he slid to the floor, a rather large and deep dent was revealed in the side of the cabinet.

"Don't. Fuck. With my partner." she told the redhead before turning back to the office.

Watching her enter the office again, he blinked a few times, noting that it hadn't started hurting yet. That was bad. He wanted to grab her, explain that he had no idea it was such a touchy subject for her, and that she'd already threatened him, but he didn't want to risk ruining any chance of a relationship with her. He'd fucked up, he knew it, and deserved all that he got from it.

"Sorry." he whispered, knowing that wouldn't fix anything, but it was all he had.

Closing the door behind her again, Jay turned to her partner, who was winding down from her rant. Ceria had slid to her knees on the floor, and didn't even realize she was crying.

"I fucking wanted . . . dammit, it was mine to tell!" she sobbed out loudly.

Sighing, Rude walked over to his partner, to see how extensive the damage was to his head. Reno hadn't built up the tolerance to being whacked in the head that he had, and from the size of the dent, it wasn't good. He wasn't exactly gentle with the redhead though, pulling his head one way or the other. Why did he have to mess with Ceria? He should've just kept his mouth shut about interoffice relationships. He already had planned to tell Ceria how he felt about her, even had a good plan for doing so, but thanks to Reno's interference, he was going to have to change that plan. Maybe on the roof, since the door locked from the inside, and she couldn't run then.

"Ow." Reno remarked as his head was pulled in an awkward angle.

"It's your own fault, so shut up." the taller, bald man muttered.

Reno only shrugged, still looking unhappy about the whole situation. Rude really couldn't claim that his partner had a right to be or not, since he'd had no exact clue as to what was said on that mission, but he'd bet it was in fact the redhead's fault and that he shouldn't complain. It might actually be best to plan fast, let her cool down overnight, and hopefully he could get her to the rooftop tomorrow to settle things, maybe ease her mind, since it didn't seem very stable right now. But hearing what she'd yelled . . . it was definitely surprising, since she pretty much avoided him at all times. If he weren't so shy, he'd go into that office right now and tell her that he felt the same about her, but not only did it not seem the right time, he was still very shy.

"How bad's the concussion? I know he has one." Tseng asked.

Rude just looked at him, and hauled the much smaller turk to the infirmary for the night. Reno would be lucky to get any sleep tonight, being woken up every hour. It served him right, just like the throbbing headache he'd have for a while. Not that Rude hated his partner, per se, but he'd upset Ceria, which not only upset Jay, but himself as well. Granted the end result was that he now knew that she didn't hate him, but if she needed to be that upset to say it . . . either she wasn't comfortable with it, or she was just as shy as he.

"Is . . . are we ok in here?" Elena asked, poking her head in the office.

Ceria was curled up on the floor, crying drunken tears. Jay was rubbing the other woman's back, silently comforting her. The blonde woman walked in and shut the door after her.

"I know how you feel, Ceria. Really, I do. But . . . at least he's not a workoholic." she grinned, trying to get the woman to laugh.

She didn't respond at first, just wound down on the crying, as she was running out of tears.

"We gotta find some way of cheering you up. C'mon, let's have a girls' night out. I know Tseng will let us off early after all that."

"All . . . that?" she rasped out.

"We heard stuff breaking, and you were screaming a lot."

"Everyone knows now, don't they?"

Elena wasn't sure if she should tell her or not; if she did, she would probably freak out again and they'd never cheer her up again. If she didn't, the girl would probably get angry at her later when she found out that she had kept it from her.

"Even if they were paying attention, they probably figured you were just shouting out random drunk nonsense." Jay sighed, pulling Ceria to her feet.

Still stumbling about, and half drunk, the auburn haired woman nearly pulled her partner down with her until the blonde came around to support the other side. Together, they hauled the drunken girl out the door. Seeing the three edge sideways through the door, Tseng raised an eyebrow.

"We're gonna go get her sober and cheered up." Elena said, pointing out of the office.

Waving them off, the Wutaian went back to his paperwork. The paperwork that he'd have to fill out from this afternoon's mess would be insane. Damage reports, what had been yelled, he'd eventually have to find out from both sides why it had happened in the first place, it was a hassle dealing with interoffice squabbles. Why one had to happen now, with so few missions to do, he supposed was a benefit, since then he wouldn't have anything to distract him from the paperwork, but it didn't make him any less irritated.

Pulling into the parking lot, Elena looked over at the recently drunk and distraught woman in the backseat with her partner.

"Think she's sober enough to shop?" she asked Jay.

"Noone's ever drunk enough not to." the silver-haired woman grinned.

They walked into the mall, and headed for the shoe store. This wasn't, of course, your average shoe store. Wall to wall Jimmy Choos, Manolo Blahniks, and Isaac Mizrahis everywhere, in every size and color. Ceria snapped out of her daze and dashed to the Blahniks immediately. Grabbing a pair of houristra2s and koyus in size 8 ½, she moved from designer to designer, grabbing nearly half a dozen pairs of shoes.

"Ceria, those houristras are over a thousand gil!" Jay stared in shock.

"So?"

"What do you need thousand-gil shoes for?"

"They look good, they'll look awesome on me, and this is therapy."

"Spending all your money is therapy?"

"You forgot how much we get paid, didn't you?"

"Fine." the other woman sighed. "Don't come to me when you're starving."

Scoffing, Ceria paid for her shoes, then grinned at Elena.

"To Nordstroms!" she cried out, grabbing her partner's hand and dragging her off down the mall.

Jay found herself lost in a whirlwind of black suits, blonde hair, and auburn hair. Not only were they trying all sorts of things on, they'd shoved a bunch of clothes at her and made her try on things too. Most of them she'd never wear on her own, but she humored them anyways. They convinced her to buy some of the outfits though, saying that they could be used to torture anyone she liked.

The shopping spree lasted a good four hours, with shoes, clothes, and even jewelry shopping, all to help Ceria feel better. By the time they went home, she was closer to sober, and quite happy. They were all pretty tired though, so they went home, for the most part imagining driving some of their coworkers crazy with the new outfits and so on.

The next morning, Ceria was pulled into Tseng's office to help with paperwork on yesterday's incident.

"Do I have to remember all of that now? It's not exactly good memories, ya know."

"You have to face it someday. May as well get it over with."

"Hm." she continued writing, a frown creasing her brow.

The door opened behind her, and she glanced back, frown turning to a scowl as she saw who had entered. Purposely ignoring her coworker as he sat next to her, to fill out his share of the paperwork, she didn't notice the large bandage around his head. Part of the metal cabinet had cut a small gash in his scalp.

"Cerie?" he asked quietly.

She only glared sideglance at him and continued writing.

"Ceria, I'm really sorry, I didn't realize . . ."

"No, you didn't. Now shut up so I can focus."

Sighing, Reno continued filling out his paperwork, slipping a small envelope under a stack of papers she had yet to fill out. Pulling the redhead off to the side, Tseng quietly suggested he take his paperwork to his own office, and stay there for the rest of the day. Stressed out Turks in his office was the last thing he needed. As it was, it was another slow day, so the massive quantities of paperwork were the only bit of entertainment or distraction from the lack of action the Turks would have. Noone, not even Tseng, liked slow days.

Popping her neck, Ceria looked up at the Wutaian.

"How much did you hear?"

"Hmm?"

"Yesterday, when I was screaming and breaking things. How much did you hear of it?"

"Do you really want me to answer? Or are you looking for someone new to take out your anger on?"

"It would help me if he'd stop being so damn apologetic. It's easier to be pissed off when he's being cocky as usual."

"Why do you want to be pissed off?" the silence stretched for a moment before she sighed.

"Protection. I don't know if I want to feel like this. It scares me."

"Why? Does caring about someone make them vulnerable?"

"In my family it does . . . and I don't want to have to deal with another Devar."

"Who?"

"The one who lost to an alarm clock. I explained it to only one person, I should have remembered that."

"And who did you explain it to?"

Ceria opened her mouth to speak, but paused, then heaved a sigh. Shaking her head, she picked up the paperwork she hadn't done yet, then saw the small envelope. Tseng still looked at her, waiting for an answer to his question, as she opened it and read the brief, typewritten note inside.

"I . . . I'll have to get back to this . . . something apparently important has just come up." she said, dashing out the door.

Tseng watched her leave, then gathered the sheaf of papers and took them to her office. Rereading the note, Ceria noted that she was already late, by about ten minutes. It said that they'd be there for an hour, but she hated being late to anything. It didn't say who it was from, just that they wanted to see her on the roof, and that it was important. Taking the stairs, she started to get apprehensive – with it unclear who was up there, and her having no knowledge of where the envelope had come from, it could be anything.

Walking through the door to the rooftop, she let it close behind her, not knowing that it would lock. Standing a few feet from the door, she looked around to see if she could see anyone, but noone was apparently up there. Frowning, she was just about to turn back when she sensed someone come up behind her. Turning around, she came face to, well, chest, with Rude. Flushing bright red, she backed herself into the door, letting out a squeak when she found it locked. The taller man looked away, almost as though he were disappointed.

"What is it about me that scares you?" he asked, just above a whisper.

"I -it - it's n-n-not th-that . . . uh . . . shit." she stuttered.

He tilted his head briefly, offering the chance to explain. She only stuttered more.

"I would think after that first day, that you'd know you can tell me anything, Ceria." he took off his sunglasses, golden-green eyes full of compassion.

Her eyes screwed shut, battling the tears that threatened to fall. Sliding to her knees, she covered her face in her hands. Giving a part of herself to someone else still scared the hell out of her, especially due to her parents.

"I . . . fuck . . . goddamnit . . . I love you, ok?" she choked out.

Kneeling down next to her, he gathered her up in his arms. Her body was shaking with something akin to a blend of fear and nervousness.

"Ceria, I wanted you to come up here so I could tell you the same thing." he murmured into her hair.

The shaking stopped a moment or so after his confession, and she looked up at him, her hazel-green eyes red from the crying. She blinked a bit, trying to get rid of the dry itchiness.

"I'm . . . I'm not perfect. I won't wear dresses, I'm not girly . . . I . . ." she started, completely certain that he would end up like her parents.

"I wouldn't want you to be perfect and wear dresses."

"I'm not letting my hair grow either."

"That's fine."

"And I'll say whatever the hell I want, when I wanna."

"Go ahead."

Screwing her eyes shut again, she started sobbing about how terrible her parents had been, about the ankle length hair and the lolita dresses, how she'd never been allowed to speak, and she just wanted to have fun. Leaning into him, she clutched at his jacket and cried about how she wanted to stop running so many times, but her parent's mindfucking kept stopping her. Rude sat there, listening to the woman crying out her problems, a very soft smile on his face. She was finally talking to him again. Once she'd ranted herself out, and was just resting there, curled up against him, he gently brought her chin up to look at him.

"Ceria . . . I love you for who you are, not who I want you to be." he murmured before kissing her.


End file.
